World Trade Center

It is hard to believe, but it has been 17 years since the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Today is a Tuesday, the actual day of the week of the attack, not to be repeated again until 2029.

America lost whatever innocence it had on that day, when we lost 3,000 innocent human beings, and then lost 4.500 in the unnecessary Iraq War, that was planned as an excuse to go after Saddam Hussein, as well as the endless war in Afghanistan, where we have lost 2,400.

Additionally, about 2,000 firefighters, police, and rescue workers involved in the recovery have died from inhaling dust at the World Trade Center site, and many more are dying of cancer, so soon, we will have more victims in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks domestically, than actually died on that day.

Sadly, Osama Bin Laden, although later tracked down and killed in 2011, has triumphed in dividing the nation into a polarized state, and taken away our freedom and sense of security, under attack not only from terrorists, but also from right wingers who want to destroy our Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Their willing ally is President Donald Trump, who wishes to be President for life, and is systematically destroying our rule of law and constitutional order, without any intervention or opposition from the Republican party that nominated him. Now, he is being further assisted by the contested nomination of a Supreme Court Justice, Brett Kavanaugh, who seems ready to back Trump in any legal action, and prevent prosecution of a President who has committed Treason, and engaged in collaboration with Vladimir Putin of Russia, to fix his election, despite losing the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes.

America is in a constitutional crisis far greater than Watergate and Richard Nixon, with only the Civil War a greater event in its significance, and the crisis must be overcome by patriotic Americans who realize how dangerous Trump is, and MUST elect a Democratic Congress, and start the resistance to what Trump has been doing, in order to save everything decent that America represents.

Rudy Giuliani began as a Democrat, became an Independent, and then a Republican politically.

He became noted as the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York during the 1980s, prosecuting significant cases against Organized Crime , and against corrupt corporate financiers.

Giuliani served as New York City Mayor from 1994-2002, and the quality of life improved, and the rate of violent crime went down dramatically.

Giuliani was Mayor at the time of September 11, and was hailed for his reaction and performance in that tragic moment, and was honored as Time Magazine Man of the Year, and given an honorary Knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II in 2002.

After first entering the Senate race of 2000 in New York against Hillary Clinton, he withdrew after a prostate cancer diagnosis, but recovered from that. He became engaged in a business career, but was for awhile the front runner in polls for the 2008 Republican Presidential nomination, perceived as a liberal in that race, but then faltered. He also considered running for Governor of New York in 2010 and for President in 2012, but chose to do neither.

Giuliani became an informal cyber security adviser to Donald Trump in 2017, after many decades of knowing and associating with him, and became part of his legal team involving the investigation of Trump for Russian collusion and obstruction of justice in April 2018.

Despite an impressive career in many ways, Giuliani has, in the eyes of many observers, totally destroyed his credibility and his reputation, and has become noted as a person who many think has had mental deterioration, based on his public statements and activities.

He has become a massive liar and manipulator, similar to those characteristics in Donald Trump.

He has disgusted many people who once admired him, and his private life of now three failed marriages, including a very public and messy second divorce while he was Mayor of New York, has caused many people to dismiss his earlier achievements.

When Rudy Giuliani says something, it is soon shown to be pure propaganda and working to confuse the situation surrounding Donald Trump.

So we are witnessing the complete destruction of Rudy Giuliani’s reputation before our eyes.

A few generally unknown and surprising facts about Giuliani:

When he was a Democrat in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Giuliani volunteered for the Robert F. Kennedy campaign in 1968, was a Democratic commiteeman on Long Island in the early 1970s, and supported Democratic Presidential nominee George McGovern in 1972.

Giuliani’s father served time in Sing Sing Prison for felony assault and robbery, and was an organizer for the mob in Brooklyn, all this after having trouble holding a steady job.

Also, Giuliani considered a career in the priesthood, laughable, when one considers his love life since his youth.

Also, Giuliani was blamed by some for the tragedy of September 11, for having decided to locate the Office of Emergency Management in the World Trade Center, undermining coordination between police and fire forces, and causing lack of preparedness of first responders at the time of the attack. And many observers feel that Giuliani built up his reputation as a “hero” on false pretenses.

In any case, Rudy Giuliani remains highly controversial in 2018 as he has been all of his public life.

Three days away due to Hurricane Irma, with no problems, just inconvenience of loss of electricity, phones, internet, and very little damage, considering the intensity of the storm.

So now we are back to political reality, and this blogger will resume his coverage and interpretation of political and historical events which affect our present and our future.

Most important today is the 16th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and proper commemoration is in order.

But tomorrow, the future of this nation remains one of uncertainty with the erratic and weird leadership of Donald Trump, who now seems to be setting out to declare war on the Republican Party, which was taken hostage by him in 2016, and his sudden, momentary “affair” with the Democrats, who have not one ounce of trust in him, but will work with him if there is any temporary benefit to them.

This issue of Trump and the Republicans, and Trump and the Democrats, will be discussed further in future days.

The 21st century began with the horrific attack on September 11, 2001 on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, killing nearly 3.000 civilians of many nations.

It ushered in a 15 year period of turmoil, division, and tremendous spending to fight terrorism and wage two unwinnable wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It has led to persecution of Muslims in America, and promotion of nativism, racism, and antisemitism.

It has caused the two major political parties to fight each other in a way that prevents any cooperation on just about anything.

And then, in the midst of all this chaos and anxiety, along came a charlatan, a rookie in politics, a crooked businessman, a narcissist to the extreme, who was able to convince working class white males that he was their “Superman”, and would end terrorism, crime, and fight Wall Street, all fabrications.

So from the 9-11 tragedy, we went to 11-9, November 9, 2016, the declared victory of Donald Trump, who has caused more division and hatred than anyone in the past 15 years.

And he won due to the quirks of the Electoral College, having only one serious opponent who won electoral votes, but only winning 46 percent of all votes cast.

And November 9 is also the day in 1938 when we had Kristallnacht, the “Night of the Broken Glass”, when thousands of Jews became victims of a pogrom, as businesses and synagogues went up in flames and ushered in the beginning of the Holocaust in Nazi Germany, which killed six million Jews by 1945.

With the rise of white supremacy, and characters such as Richard Spencer and David Duke backing Donald Trump’s attacks on Mexicans. Muslims, and all immigration under attack, one can sense that we might be moving toward Fascism, with only the scandals around Donald Trump giving us the hope that his agenda may be stalled and prevented permanently.

Fareed Zakaria spoke today on his CNN show about the Afghanistan War, which began on October 7, 2001, after the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.

We still have more than 8,000 troops engaged in a war that never has really ended, and it is the longest war in American history.

About $800 billion has been spent fighting the Taliban and Al Qaeda, but one cannot say that the war has been won, or will ever be won.

2,249 Americans have paid the ultimate price, in a quagmire that is unwinnable with troops, by any sensible measure of success.

The Soviet Union collapsed by 1991, partly due to the invasion of Afghanistan that went on from December 1979 February 1989.

The British tried to gain control of Afghanistan as part of the British Empire and failed, and the same for Alexander the Great in ancient times.

The loss of life and treasure is enough, and the US should stop their ground war in Afghanistan, and utilize drones as the only worthwhile investment, since the government of Afghanistan is hopelessly corrupt and unable to win the war, with no one really knowing what “winning” means in any case!

Vince Foster, an aide to the Clintons, did not commit suicide in 1993, but instead was murdered on order of the Clintons, as he had dangerous information on their activities.

Hillary Clinton “enabled” Bill Clinton to commit abuse on numerous women, and set out to destroy those women’s lives in the aftermath.

These and other conspiracy theories are the work of right wing extremists who will stop at nothing to defame the Clintons and President Obama.

Meanwhile, Trump has numerous “skeletons” in his closet, but is outraged at any investigation of them, and uses reports on his “skeletons” as the excuse for his vicious personal attacks on the Clintons, Obama, Muslims, and Mexicans, along with innumerable personal attacks on everyone else imaginable!

Most who study American history know of the British attack on Washington, DC on August 24, 1814, during the War of 1812.

They know of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941, leading to World War II entrance.

Of course, they know of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, leading to the War on Terrorism.

But almost no one knows of the attack on Columbus, New Mexico, on March 9, 1916 by Mexican bandits led by rogue Pancho Villa, during the period known as the Mexican Revolution.

This attack led to the burning of this town on the Mexican border by several hundred Mexican guerrillas, and the deaths of 17 Americans.

President Woodrow Wilson sent in General John J. Pershing to hunt down Pancho Villa and the guerrillas, but this “Punitive Expedition”, lasting from March 14, 1916 to February 7, 1917 failed to accomplish its mission, and the American troops were withdrawn, after months of protests from the Mexican government about the invasion into their sovereign territory.

This was one of the many undeclared wars in American history, and was unable to fulfill its objective, the capture or killing of Villa, who was later killed by one of his followers in 1923.

Think of how many times a crisis has arisen in American history during an administration of innumerable Presidents!

Should James Madison have resigned as he fled the capital as the British invaded Washington, DC in August 1814 during the War of 1812?

Should Abraham Lincoln have resigned when various times in the Civil War the Confederacy won major military battles from 1861-1863?

Should Franklin D. Roosevelt have resigned when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941?

Should John F. Kennedy have resigned when Russian missiles were discovered in Cuba in 1962?

Should Ronald Reagan have resigned after the loss of 252 Marines in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1983, due to Islamic terrorism?

Should George W. Bush have resigned after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon by Al Qaeda?

In these and innumerable other situations, of course the answer is NO!

But now, suddenly, reckless Republicans want Barack Obama to resign due to the Paris terror attacks, which they blame Obama for, even though ISIL (ISIS) is the outgrowth of the disastrous and unnecessary Iraq War waged by George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

This demand for resignation occurred after “Jihadi John”, who slaughtered foreign hostages by knife, including Americans; and a leading figure in ISIL (ISIS) in Libya, were killed by American air strikes, but before the tragic Paris terror attacks, as if the Republicans have s simple answer to the threat of Islamic terrorism!

So in a crisis moment, the nation should rally around the President, as is typical in most cases historically. But even when not unifying around the President, no leader should bow to political attacks, and instead go to work and face the crises that arise, as so many Presidents have done throughout American history!

Today is the 200th Anniversary of the British attack on Washington DC during the War of 1812, one of the three times that our homeland has been directly attacked!

The second was the Japanese attack on the US naval base on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, and the third was the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, leading to the war in Afghanistan against Al Qaeda, and the full development of the War on Terror!

The attack on the nation’s capital led to the burning of the White House and the US Capitol, and the fleeing of Congress to Baltimore, and the saving of the George Washington portrait in the White House by servants of President James Madison. The Library of Congress lost its 3,000 volume collection, and later bought the Thomas Jefferson private collection to replace it.

This was a low moment in the War of 1812, but thankfully, the British left DC after 26 hours, and within months, a truce and peace treaty (Treaty of Ghent) was signed, and the war was over. Also, fortunately, a heavy summer thunderstorm helped to put out the fire in the Capital and the White House, and therefore, less damage was done than might have been otherwise!

The thought that our government center had been attacked was hard to accept, and since the terrorists on September 11 intended to attack the Capitol and/or the White House, and only were stopped by the courageous passengers of United Airlines Flight 93, who brought down a plane in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, that horrible situation was prevented, but the attack on the Pentagon, right over the DC line in Virginia was a strong enough warning of the threats that still existed then, and still do today with the growing danger of ISIL (ISIS)!

The three leading House Republican wingnuts–Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, Steve King of Iowa, and Louie Gohmert of Texas– were in Egypt last week, hailing the military coup against Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi.

And in the process of backing dictatorship, the three loonies made a statement about the 12th Anniversary of September 11 that is totally false and misleading.

They said the Muslim Brotherhood, the group from which Morsi emerged, and won a democratic election, the first in modern Egyptian history, were responsible for the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon!

The facts are, and even intelligent, sane Republicans know this, that it was Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden who were responsible for that dastardly deed!

Labeling all Muslims as guilty of a horrible deed is what we call scapegoating, and only makes the ability of the world to learn to coexist, since there is no way to eliminate any religion, no matter how objectionable to people of other faiths, so much more difficult!

These members of Congress bring the dignity of the House of Representatives and the Republican Party to a new, all time low!